PL IC Thread IX++ //Oddsbodikins & Atomic Kittens//

[Primordial Luxa]

"Ah I see" he said "I've never encountered this creatures but they sound like creatures of vast importance if they are as numerous as you say." Creatures with such effective reproduction capabilities were always interesting as they typically helped with advancing the various forms of immortality that Luxan tired to achieve. "Ive never met a Klingon before, but I have heard a little about your kind, mostly everything you've just described. So its very nice to meet you."

"Most people say that about both Klingons and tribbles. I have to say, it's always nice to have a Klingon around. Wouldn't you agree, Prim?"

Chrys examined her own beer. Although made from rather exotic ingredients, she loved the taste and texture. "And where did you find this? It's delicious. Is that the right word to use to describe beer?"

He nodded "Yes, your very good company Mezran" he said his accent making it sound wrong "Why thank you. Its a nice little brew made in the Dreamlands that I got from a friend of mine as a get well present. Its a bit on the expensive side but I figured your return was a special occasion."

[Mincaldenteans]

"Most people say that about both Klingons and tribbles. I have to say, it's always nice to have a Klingon around. Wouldn't you agree, Prim?"

Chrys examined her own beer. Although made from rather exotic ingredients, she loved the taste and texture. "And where did you find this? It's delicious. Is that the right word to use to describe beer?"

He nodded "Yes, your very good company Mezran" he said his accent making it sound wrong "Why thank you. Its a nice little brew made in the Dreamlands that I got from a friend of mine as a get well present. Its a bit on the expensive side but I figured your return was a special occasion."

"You can never say there isn't a klingon around when you need one," he nodded with pride. Indeed his own universe there seemed to be equal amount of klingons to humans, as though it was a 1:1 ratio on their population growth - Klingons were everywhere humans were. Some military experts believed that if the empire ever went to war with the Federation, it would actually spur a larger population growth based on the conditions set forth by war itself. Mezran found that to be a bit ridiculous, the Dominion War showed them otherwise, unless they were plucking fallen heroes right out of Sto-Vo-Kor.

"Which brings us to you, my friend," Mezran said with a nod and less analytic eyes. "Who are you and where are you from? I have never encountered one such as yourself, although you mention you have heard of us? And what is this Dreamland you speak of?"

[The Carlisle]

Kale got a wide-eyed shocked look on her face. She looked away from Toscha at the floor. She didn't know what to say, what to do. I mean, Toscha liked her. It was all unexpected. I mean, she just met the guy yesterday, and now.... he was asking this. I mean, she liked the guy, but, not that way.... She wasn't even ready for that sort of relationship, not yet. It's been only a week since she got here and... no, she can't have a relationship. Not now and not after what happened... at home. It was too soon.

But... she didn't want to hurt his feelings. She looked back to Toscha, the shocked look replaced with a smile. "S-Sure! That sounds cool!" she said, blushing a bit more out of embarrassment than affection, but nobody could tell the difference.

The waiter came back. "Are you two ready to order your meals? Or just drinks for now?" he said.

"Umm.... can I have herbal tea. Chamomile to be specific," Kale said. The waiter jotted it down and looked to Toscha.

[Primordial Luxa]

He nodded "Yes, your very good company Mezran" he said his accent making it sound wrong "Why thank you. Its a nice little brew made in the Dreamlands that I got from a friend of mine as a get well present. Its a bit on the expensive side but I figured your return was a special occasion."

"You can never say there isn't a klingon around when you need one," he nodded with pride. Indeed his own universe there seemed to be equal amount of klingons to humans, as though it was a 1:1 ratio on their population growth - Klingons were everywhere humans were. Some military experts believed that if the empire ever went to war with the Federation, it would actually spur a larger population growth based on the conditions set forth by war itself. Mezran found that to be a bit ridiculous, the Dominion War showed them otherwise, unless they were plucking fallen heroes right out of Sto-Vo-Kor.

"Which brings us to you, my friend," Mezran said with a nod and less analytic eyes. "Who are you and where are you from? I have never encountered one such as yourself, although you mention you have heard of us? And what is this Dreamland you speak of?"

"Im Primordial" he said giving a slight bow "Ambassador to the Luxan Empire and a Void Lord. I come from a different Multiverse and am here to spread my nations ideology and record the nature of what I find. I bring with me unknowable truths, writhing cosmic evil, and the holocaust of ecstasy. The Dreamlands is very much what it sounds like. Its a land you can travel to in your dreams. Everyone goes their three times; during their first sleep outside of the womb, their first sleep next to the love of their life, and the last sleep of their life. Some gifted dreamers can go their through skill and wit, or magic and science can allow you to physically go their. Its a strange place built out of all mankind's subconscious thoughts some places are heavens other hells and all of them strange and otherworldly."

[The BranRiech]

"So that's how it is."

Torii laid down her fork and knife and started to lean in closer. "Bran, do you pity me? Or am I just an annoying neighbor that you try and act nice to because you feel obligated? What do you really think of me?"

Her words rung throughout the room, and those there could easily tell it was Torii who was starting to yell back. She realized this, and froze up.

She stopped herself from saying anymore, and, collapsing back into her seat, she laid her head down in her arms. She felt sick, the kind of sick that made her stomach tie into a knot, and her face turn red hot. "I'm a screw up.", She thought. "Why do I always screw things up? Now Mr. Nikanor will never give me a chance. I'm just an annoying screw-up, and now he doesn't want to see me..."

Maybe, she thought, this diner had lasted long enough...

"Bran?", She asked in a whisper. "I'm sorry. Look...", She paused, "...I made this dinner go badly. I think maybe you should go home if you're done. I didn't mean to drag you into this. I just thought that maybe I could be straight up with you, but that obviously won't work."

"You know, sometimes it feels a little like both, Torii." Bran sighed, very nearly face-palming in annoyance. "Torii, if you want to get closer to someone, you don't abduct them, you don't beat them down, and you don't accuse them of not giving a shit about you during a dinner date that you suggested." He said, trying his best to get the point across, but he sounded defeated, almost pitiful. "Torii, you want to desperately be understood, but you fail to understand, you get what I'm saying? You envy your friends, and want to do better than them, but you don't even know what they go through on a daily basis." The conscript was near-exploding at this point as he got up, deposited a $20 for his meal, and walked off, out of Chaos, and back to the family who actually loved him.

Digging through his phone, he removed Torii from his contacts list, but not before sending one more text.

Apologize in person when you feel ready
-Bran.

--

Toscha, still quivering from how stupid he was, sighed when Kale said yes. He knew it was only out of fear of rejecting him, and he knew he should have waited to ask her until much later. "Fuck." He whispered silently, almost wanting to curl up into a ball and just shut out everything. Failing to make eye contact from this point forward, the Lamia only rarely picked at his food, and dared not say a word. "Sorry, Kale." He finally peeped, looking back up at his friend.

"I'm dumb, you don't have to listen to me, alright? Take back what I asked earlier."

[Torsiedelle]

Torii sat there until the noise had died down, and checked her phone. "Apoligize my ass.", She muttered. "Fuck him. Why can't he understand!? What they go through? They have families! They have futures! They can do anything, and they have support in it!"

She closed her eyes and took a moment to blow off steam before leaving her money and getting up. She stormed back her two friends and out the door, back across the street.

The lobby flew by, and Torii found herself crashing into the club room. She threw herself onto the couch and curled up into a ball. "Why?", She asked herself over and over again, letting the argument play over in her head. Her eyes were stinging with tears.

The room was dark. Nobody else seemed to be there...

She was alone...

At least, she thought, nobody would hear her crying, right? The last thing she needed was someone hearing her cry and thinking that she was just sobbing over something else that was her fault. She let everything out and started crying, alone in the room.

[Erucia]

Sherril blinked curiously. She mulled over the idea in her head... The thoughts were deleted, at least, if Calle was a Cyborg, as Sherril was thinking. "Well... I'd offer to take a look but I'm used to playing around with the ten year old systems back home, not with... whatever kind of hardware you're using." She said, giving a useless shrug in response. Her attention was brought back over to Matuk from the introduction.

She stuck her hand out, naturally, offering a handshake to the Orc. Her grin was fairly natural. You learn to suppress nervousness when your castle is a veritable hotspot for celebrities, geniuses, and politicians. "Nice to meet you, Matuk. I'm Sherril. At least, that's the short of it. I'd be here for an hour if I went over all of my titles." Alright, not as many as Cerril, but still a significant amount of words for a bit player in Tinellian royalty. To Sherril, Matuk's awkwardness came off as pleasantly refreshing. A nice change of pace, she could say.

Looking down at the hand for but a moment, Matuk took the gesture and the offer. He shook Sherril's hand with a decently-firm shake, though it still felt slightly awkward. Agrovan culture and tradition still clinged on to most orcs in the 'modern' era, or at least it did back in Matuk's universe. The civil greeting for orcs had been a light bow, at least since roughly 1200 A.B.L. Some tribes prior to the Shogunate had preferred a grasp of the arm, in a Roman-like handshake, though it was seen as fairly uncivilized and was phased out.

Of course, ancient history of a world that wasn't here didn't affect Matuk much anyways. He lightened up when he saw Sherril's grin, and felt more at ease with her sociable and non-threatening attitude. Even the gesture towards Sherril's royalty or status didn't really change that view, since Matuk had at least gotten used to dealing with mentions of outdated clan-titles and positions of governance during his brief stint of notoriety in his old world.

"Out of curiosity, if you don't mind my asking...um, what species are you? And where are you from?" Matuk tried to phrase the question politely as possible, and it thankfully came off innocently-enough. Perhaps a bit of Sherril's curiosity had rubbed off on him; he briefly glanced towards Calle as a display of that curiosity.

[Tiltjuice]

There was a brief flash of white in front of him and to his left, between a small copse of three trees. The elevation - it was too slight to call it a hill - on which the trees stood obscured any full sighting of what might have been the white stag. Yet, was that the sound of hoof beats? It was too gentle to call it the thundering of horses...

No signs of the sentient spider colony presented themselves to Reginald's eyes. They frequently moved from place to place, however; so it was entirely possible he could run into them at some point.

Sir reginald looked surprised and said," What the hell was that! it must of been the bloody white stag well time to track it down this forest will not drive me away from my game!". He started to go to the area where he supposedly heard the white stag. He saw a white hair and said to himself," This might be a sign that it is here but it night be a hair from a hare". He then started looking closer he saw hoof marks they looked fresh he said," It went north of me i must press forward for i shall not be defeated by the wild i have in the jungles of kenya and no forest shall stop me". He then followed the tracks the deeper he went in pursuit of the White stag the darker the forest got and he laid his last bear trap behind him incase he was being followed. He then stopped to listen to his surroundings.

There was a brief rustling, this time from the safari hunter's right and much closer now. The white hairs he'd seen were joined by sable, and the hoof marks became pawprints in the middle of the trail. It sounded oddly like a brush sliding through hair.

[Rygondria]

Sir reginald looked surprised and said," What the hell was that! it must of been the bloody white stag well time to track it down this forest will not drive me away from my game!". He started to go to the area where he supposedly heard the white stag. He saw a white hair and said to himself," This might be a sign that it is here but it night be a hair from a hare". He then started looking closer he saw hoof marks they looked fresh he said," It went north of me i must press forward for i shall not be defeated by the wild i have in the jungles of kenya and no forest shall stop me". He then followed the tracks the deeper he went in pursuit of the White stag the darker the forest got and he laid his last bear trap behind him incase he was being followed. He then stopped to listen to his surroundings.

There was a brief rustling, this time from the safari hunter's right and much closer now. The white hairs he'd seen were joined by sable, and the hoof marks became pawprints in the middle of the trail. It sounded oddly like a brush sliding through hair.

Reginald at first looked terrified. He did not have a clue what was going on but he knew something was not right in these woods. He then regained his courage and shouted," Who is there, If you do not show yourself i will fire"! He then saw the paw prints he examined them in said," Something is amiss in this forest but i must not leave until i get my prey whether it be the stag or any other big game". He then continued his tracking of the white stag keeping his elephant rifle on hand encase he had to shoot either the stag or any other creature.

[TotallyNotEvilLand]

Sherril chuckled softly at the mention of needles. She wasn't a surgeon. Her idea of heart surgery was randomly flailing her hand about and throwing everything on the floor... Typical Arkadat surgery, actually. "Well, I don't have any of my equipment and I'm not sure exactly how I'd go about... well, working on you." She said. "I mean, I know a guy who'd absolutely drop from excitement at the chance to reverse-engineer whatever kind of gear you've got, but that's another story." She returned her attention to Matuk, a wide grin on her face once more.

"I'm an Arkadat. Bug... horse things from a giant island to the west, called Tinell. The species there get weirder. We've got 3 foot tall rabbit creatures and acrobatic rats as well, but that's a much longer story. Not sure if you'd be interested in hearing me blather on about Tinellian history." She was used to answering the "what are you" question in the past, and this wasn't anything new.

[Cerillium]

Ilun was confused at first, the sayings Darius had shared were of curious nature, but the Dronid was still awaiting some sort of occurrence on his Drone partner's behalf. The mist failed to relent, yet Ilun sensors depicted a general view of the forest. The strange agent that they had encountered seemed to be gone, though this was only as far as he could see; with hope, this was the reality of things.

"Of course." Ilun responded to Darius readily. This unyielding blockage of visual perception was most annoying to him, and combat was certainly not his territory of comfort.

"Where shall we head then?" He spoke, addressing the fact that they still had no true destination, curious if matters had changed now. He wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't; the forest was quite large, it seemed. They could walk on for quite some time through the dense wilderness.

--

There was something more than ominous about the carrier to Dani, on her steady approach to the dead ship bay. She could have sworn she was in some sort of horror movie, as she looked out her own vessel into the dark floors of the vast and empty bay. Not a single bit of movement could be detected anywhere, the only thing she could even locate was the ship which she had chased all the way here, now sitting dormant and alone, hiding in the silent night.

The state of the ship was appalling to Dani; even her own weathered craft was ages better kept than this, then again, it was also ages younger. The metal was battered by millenniums of space debris, and unrelenting sunlight left bleached scars all along anywhere light had apparently been shining over the seemingly countless years. She found it almost bizarre that the hulk od disintegrating metal did, indeed, function, if only barely.

There were second thoughts as she gathered her suit from the tiny compartment where it had been somehow tightly stuffed. A gift from times past, it had been something of a strange curio she had made, never truly imaging having to use it. Of course, now the time arose - she simply couldn't fit her ship in the narrow hallways, and though she had no true obligation to go any further on behalf of anyone, she did indeed have a personal one.

If this was where that Drone had ran, she would see to finding it, and crushing it before it could do any real damage.

About fifteen minutes later the mist disappeared as quickly and strangely as it had arrived and Aegis was gone and quickly approaching the Apartments yard. As the drones looked around they would find their surroundings seemed to have shifted slightly, they appeared to be in the same forest but all of the trees looked different. A quick inspection would reveal that they hadn't moved but that all of the branches on the nearby plants were now in different positions.

A bluebottle, perhaps the season's last, briefly settled on one of Darius' lenses. Unperturbed, the Drone continued to ponder the significance of everything.

"The Agent holds clues. We know it is here. We will monitor and-"

What? What exactly were they going to do? What could they possibly do when they were on their own and (as far as Darius could tell based upon the Agent's benign behavior) the Unseens weren't hell bend on destroying everything in their path? It was another stark reminder that he wasn't home. The Drone in him knew it. The fungus beating back the Drone in him new it.

"I am unprepared for this environment. I must assess things more clearly. This is not the place I came from. You apparently intend to inquire knowledge as well. Where shall we begin? Do we relocate the agent? Do we relocate Dani? Do we determine what faction holds this city?"

[Torsiedelle]

"Um...yea, sure...."

Katya looked back at Dora, a little strange, but thought that maybe she was just not thinking right. It was hard, trying to understand that in pain. Now, the nurse was taking care of her. That was good, too, since the entire fiasco was about to come to its climax.

"Say, after this, what will we do?", She asked. "I don't know how I'll take this...I'm going crazy, I swear, ha. What's the procedure? Dora? Nurse?"

The daemonette answered; Dora, being sterile and too young to remember her sisters' birth, had absolutely no idea.

"We wait until you're fully dilated before you can push. The whole process will take between 12 and 14 hours, since it's your first child. Please keep breathing evenly, and relax as much as you can. I'll keep monitoring throughout."

Katya half-screamed and let her head back. "Twelve to fourteen? Whyyyyyy!? I just want everything to be over.", She choked out. "Why?"

She started to wipe tears from her eyes and breath heavily, trying to calm down. "Please tell me I can take it easy for a little bit. I won't be able to take this shit."

[Cerillium]

Torii sat there until the noise had died down, and checked her phone. "Apoligize my ass.", She muttered. "Fuck him. Why can't he understand!? What they go through? They have families! They have futures! They can do anything, and they have support in it!"

She closed her eyes and took a moment to blow off steam before leaving her money and getting up. She stormed back her two friends and out the door, back across the street.

The lobby flew by, and Torii found herself crashing into the club room. She threw herself onto the couch and curled up into a ball. "Why?", She asked herself over and over again, letting the argument play over in her head. Her eyes were stinging with tears.

The room was dark. Nobody else seemed to be there...

She was alone...

At least, she thought, nobody would hear her crying, right? The last thing she needed was someone hearing her cry and thinking that she was just sobbing over something else that was her fault. She let everything out and started crying, alone in the room.

The boy was in a rather awkward position.

He'd returned to the building and decided to busy himself by tinkering with a draft table for Giovenith. Nobody had to draw on the floor all the time, right? But the light wouldn't cooperate, and an investigation revealed a dead outlet. The boy lacked the sense to just leave the room and imagine a working outlet, of course. No, tech priests loved tech (which is why the outlet wasn't working to begin with - wise room, clever room) and thus Marcus had traced the wires until he found the mother of all junction boxes, and then found that everything spiraled out haphazardly from that junction box (little did he know he was fucking with the Building's actual wiring). Marcus had decided to reorganize the rat's nest. Nobody likes having their innards poked and prodded, especially magical Buildings with chaotic temperaments.

The last thing the boy recalled before waking up across the room and behind the couch - well? damn he couldn't even recall it! Had he touched the wrong wire? A flash. Yes. There had been a flash and then epic pain and then sobbing, and now here he was, awake and peering over the back of the couch and feeling more sorry for Torii than he did for himself. Her little body shuddered as she voided her sorrows.

She seemed fully absorbed in her grief so he quickly crept around to the front of the couch and scooped her into a tight embrace. Sometimes even the toughest people had bad days, and sometimes those tough people were really just young girls caught between youth and adulthood, and all their world seemed to be caving in around them. So sometimes tough people needed strong people to ward away the bad things while the tough people let down their guards. At least, that's what Marcus thought as he soundlessly rocked the sad girl in his arms.

"I am Klaus and nothing trods along this path without coming under my scrutiny. You are safe here, Mab. You're standing outside our door. Come."

The shadows elongated into prying fingers that crept across the floor. They touched her own thin silhouette cast upon the decrepit parquet under their feet. The darkness consumed her shadow and enfolded her physical body in its embrace. Mab dropped through the floor.

Perhaps it was her fatigue or perhaps it was his dark magic that was, in part, hallucinatory in nature, but it almost seemed as if the inky nothingness surrounding her was comprised of unseen black feathers and the embodiment of mournful thrush warbles. (Looks were always deceiving and War's nature equally as deceptive; danger wore a mantle of jeweled butterfly wings while hope was the screeching laughter of a madman.) War never partook in the grotesque antics of the world. It preferred its own flavor of neurosis and this particular embodiment of that twisted god embraced looking glass nonsense and riddles rather than heavy-handed displays of power. And so it was that Mab would find herself everywhere and nowhere at all, and all the while gently cradled as she fell.

A black sphere appeared in the middle of the grand hall below. It shimmered and then burst into hundreds of crows which peeled outward to reveal the woman in their midst. The birds supported her until she regained her feet, and then they heralded her arrival with raw tongues and loud cries as they flew away from her and passed beyond sight into the darkness.

Klaus was already present although it was difficult to determine if he had arrived long before her or simply winked into being at that exact moment just because she believed he would be there. Either way, he was seated once again in his chair and, much as he had with the group that had been here previously, he was leaning forward to give her his full attention.

"Now we are safe. They're bringing food and drink for you - something more substantial than twinkies - and I promise that you'll have at least one night's rest in a soft, clean bed. You may speak freely here. These are dark days and none of us have time for veiled words. I trust you because you are not Nifid or Drone. You must trust me for the same reasons."



"How do you plan to send them back?" Klaus poured more wine into Mab's glass before adding some to Naomi's. "And where do you want them to turn up? Have you already chosen the group?"

Her words caught him by surprise however, and his brow furrowed. "What do you mean by "she's mortal"? I thought your people were impervious to aging and disease."

“Of course, I apologize if I seem… apprehensive,” she said with a grateful nod. She unlaced the straps of her scabbard from the belt loops of her pants and set the weapon down gently upon the table in front of her. The seat offered was a shade of winter blue, comfortable, soft and pliant under her weight. The simple feel of the soft material brought about memories she hadn’t entertained in a long while. Looking up to Klaus, Mab offered a small smile, “And thank you, Klaus, for your hospitality.”

Food and drink was brought moments later and Mab did her best not to jump at the sudden appearance of the tray. She hadn’t even sensed whoever it was that brought it and chalked it to the first effects of being a mortal.

Satisfied that they were alone, Mab picked up the hot cup of tea. Her fingers wrapped around the large brown mug and she took a sip of it with eyes closed, reveling in the sensation of it as though it had been an eternity. In some ways, it really had been. Opening her eyes, her tri-colored grey eyes looked as though she had regained a shade, a glimmer, of her old self back. She held onto the cup, letting the heat radiate through her fingers and up her arms.

“You have weapons,” she said without preamble. “Weapons that could be useful to change outcomes; perhaps not here – that notion has long since passed – but elsewhere. I noticed a group had appeared earlier, but their attempt failed; another group will be sent again to retrieve these items. I am here to help make it so. To do it, I’ll need a place to perform a ritual to get the group here, the sooner the better.”

--//\\--

Mab clasped delicate fingers around the wine glass and sipped it gingerly. A ’53. Rare vintage but most definitely enjoyable to the select palette; Mab herself preferred such wines and smiled in appreciation of it. Her eyes perked up at the questions set before her, the last one especially, as no doubt she had to explain fully how this was going to work.

“By all rights, you would be correct, Naomi,” she said with a small nod. “But my aspect has lost much of her powers, diminished, crippled even. She is but a shade of her former self and she hardly has the strength to challenge the enemy. However, what power she has left will be enough to make this journey possible and she has accepted the price for it. Her immortality, her very being as Winter, was the price. She has taken whatever is left and made herself into a being infused with the power of Winter. Sadly, however, that will fade and Winter will be no more... at least in that reality.

“What she can do in the meantime is what matters. While I am capable of opening a portal to that place, doing so would attract my counterpart thereby interfering with what needs to happen. It is our way: when one moves perforce the other will as well to balance the act. And because I cannot wait to explain things to her, and nor would she accept it even if I swore it upon my power, it would no doubt halt my efforts and likely be seen as an act of war by them.

“But,” Mab smiled then, taking another small sip of the rare wine before continuing, “Nothing says I cannot be summoned. Now, no Queen can summon another and in that place all my kind are gone save Mab. It would take a mortal tied to either court – with sufficient power – to do this. Mortal magic, blood magic. And what better solution than a mortal fae imbued with the power of Winter to do it. My aspect will perform the ritual but whereas I should appear before her the group will in my stead. She will repeat the ritual again once it’s time for the group to return.”

The Winter Queen paused another moment for another sip of her wine, placing the delicate glass upon the table and trailed her fingers down the stem and rested it along the foot of it after it. She tapped it softly, her fingernails making the tiniest of sounds as it clinked against the glass. “The group should be comprised of whomever you think it best to get this task done; my only request is that Dan accompanies this group. I confess however, I am unsure of an ideal place in which my aspect can open a portal, nor a place where the group should enter from without garnering their attention. For this portion of the plan, I would defer to any advice given.”

"Weapons we have, yes, although at the moment not in our possession." The meager light reflected off Klaus' jackboot as he stretched his legs out and crossed his ankles.

He observed the once-Queen seated before him. There was something poignant about her and the situation she was in. A final hurrah? The last of the longest lived? For a moment he fancied himself carrying her off to a time and place where winter was balanced, and the hardships of the world were regulated to foolish mankind's blundering rather than the open hostilities of gods and superior beings. She would be Queen Mab once again and all the world would wors-

Yes, this is how we ended up with an eternally dying Minerva in a time and dimension not too far from here, old boy. Klaus shook off the notion. He suspected Mab wouldn't fancy it.

"The problem isn't getting the weapons although that will be a challenge.. It's in the taking of them. If you want them, you'll need to use them before leaving here. They have a purpose to fulfill, which is why they were taken from us to begin with. As for a location? There are areas that would serve for good use, although some are more suitable to obfuscation than others."

---

Klaus finished his wine and removed the napkin from his lap. "We can provide a place here. That is, if Fram has minded his own business and left the Lair alone. Your counterpart will be shown an appropriate place there. Whoever you send will need to have brass balls. Retrieving the weapons will be a challenge; before they're done, they'll face the all-consuming insanity of Cthulhu, the animosity of Drones, the rampant hatred of the Invids still lurking on the Earth, and a few other things. Perhaps. No guarantee on anything."

The cultist leader rose. His hands carefully neatened his jacket but his thoughts were split between here and there. Did they actually know what they were getting in to? Even Klaus was uncertain what the weapons actually were. They'd been locked away by the gods of several pantheons under the command that no one disturb them until all hope was nearly lost. What a stupid concept. If weapons were so damn powerful so as to prevent the end all of end alls, why the hell wait until the very end to use them?

"If you'll all excuse me, I have business to tend to. There's no rush so long as you're in these quarters, Mab. Not even a second has passed in the world outside these doors."

[Tiltjuice]

Katya half-screamed and let her head back. "Twelve to fourteen? Whyyyyyy!? I just want everything to be over.", She choked out. "Why?"

She started to wipe tears from her eyes and breath heavily, trying to calm down. "Please tell me I can take it easy for a little bit. I won't be able to take this shit."

Even with all her years and stoicism, Dora would have to be the superhuman she no longer was to avoid giving the response she did.

"You made your choice back then," she said, "just as I did, and just as you did for your child. Will you stick with it? It'll be hard, at first, but you have friends here. And painkillers."

The commotion roused Tasia out of attempting to sleep, plagued by thoughts of just where her sister and her sister's mate were. Or Kei. She swung her legs slowly out of bed and began to make her way over, then paused, remembering again. She turned her back and closed the door softly.

[Monfrox]

The girl continued to sulk as she drowned her sorrows in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a root beer she nabbed out of the fridge. She felt guilty to be just helping herself, even when she had no way of paying anyone back yet. She heard the others talking down the hall and wondered if she should tell them who she really was or not. She was apprehensive, and didn't know what to expect. She acted like this before when it came to things of the same nature, and the course of action was always the same: Play it safe and lay low. The worst of her fall into the hole was over, and now she had to get used to living in it again. It was a familiar place that she had visited before for extended periods of time. That hole that radiated hateful and depressing emotions wasn't somewhere she wanted to be, but she'd have to tough it out for now. So she continued to sit and eat silently to herself, since hunger was the most immediate problem to her at this point.

[Torsiedelle]

Katya half-screamed and let her head back. "Twelve to fourteen? Whyyyyyy!? I just want everything to be over.", She choked out. "Why?"

She started to wipe tears from her eyes and breath heavily, trying to calm down. "Please tell me I can take it easy for a little bit. I won't be able to take this shit."

Even with all her years and stoicism, Dora would have to be the superhuman she no longer was to avoid giving the response she did.

"You made your choice back then," she said, "just as I did, and just as you did for your child. Will you stick with it? It'll be hard, at first, but you have friends here. And painkillers."

The commotion roused Tasia out of attempting to sleep, plagued by thoughts of just where her sister and her sister's mate were. Or Kei. She swung her legs slowly out of bed and began to make her way over, then paused, remembering again. She turned her back and closed the door softly.

"Painkillers.", Katya mumbled. She laughed at that part; it just seemed funny to her. Then, she realized, that the laughter distracted her somewhat from the pain, and so she laughed a little more and relaxed for a good moment.

I was nice...

"Will I stick with it?', She said, rocking her head slowly side to side and humming. "Of course I will. Right now, everything is so messed up for me, it's crazy. I need something to stick to and keep up...I'm keeping my word on this. There can't be any half-measures or going back. I know that....damn it.", She chuckled again. "What do you think about that?"

Torii sat there until the noise had died down, and checked her phone. "Apoligize my ass.", She muttered. "Fuck him. Why can't he understand!? What they go through? They have families! They have futures! They can do anything, and they have support in it!"

She closed her eyes and took a moment to blow off steam before leaving her money and getting up. She stormed back her two friends and out the door, back across the street.

The lobby flew by, and Torii found herself crashing into the club room. She threw herself onto the couch and curled up into a ball. "Why?", She asked herself over and over again, letting the argument play over in her head. Her eyes were stinging with tears.

The room was dark. Nobody else seemed to be there...

She was alone...

At least, she thought, nobody would hear her crying, right? The last thing she needed was someone hearing her cry and thinking that she was just sobbing over something else that was her fault. She let everything out and started crying, alone in the room.

The boy was in a rather awkward position.

He'd returned to the building and decided to busy himself by tinkering with a draft table for Giovenith. Nobody had to draw on the floor all the time, right? But the light wouldn't cooperate, and an investigation revealed a dead outlet. The boy lacked the sense to just leave the room and imagine a working outlet, of course. No, tech priests loved tech (which is why the outlet wasn't working to begin with - wise room, clever room) and thus Marcus had traced the wires until he found the mother of all junction boxes, and then found that everything spiraled out haphazardly from that junction box (little did he know he was fucking with the Building's actual wiring). Marcus had decided to reorganize the rat's nest. Nobody likes having their innards poked and prodded, especially magical Buildings with chaotic temperaments.

The last thing the boy recalled before waking up across the room and behind the couch - well? damn he couldn't even recall it! Had he touched the wrong wire? A flash. Yes. There had been a flash and then epic pain and then sobbing, and now here he was, awake and peering over the back of the couch and feeling more sorry for Torii than he did for himself. Her little body shuddered as she voided her sorrows.

She seemed fully absorbed in her grief so he quickly crept around to the front of the couch and scooped her into a tight embrace. Sometimes even the toughest people had bad days, and sometimes those tough people were really just young girls caught between youth and adulthood, and all their world seemed to be caving in around them. So sometimes tough people needed strong people to ward away the bad things while the tough people let down their guards. At least, that's what Marcus thought as he soundlessly rocked the sad girl in his arms.

The feeling of being wrapped into a hug wasn't something that she had expected, and Torii jolted from the shock. For a split second, her defensive instincts almost kicked in, and she probably would've punched Marcus had she not blubbered and cried herself back into reality. She wriggled and turned her head to identify the person, and, for a moment, thought that it would be Bran, just like in some sappy TV show, and they could apologize right then, but it wasn't. Still, Marcus, who she hadn't seen in a while, was a very welcomed site.

Between whimpers and sniffles, she let out a choked-up, "M-Marcus? What are you doing here? I thought I was alone."

[Cerillium]

The feeling of being wrapped into a hug wasn't something that she had expected, and Torii jolted from the shock. For a split second, her defensive instincts almost kicked in, and she probably would've punched Marcus had she not blubbered and cried herself back into reality. She wriggled and turned her head to identify the person, and, for a moment, thought that it would be Bran, just like in some sappy TV show, and they could apologize right then, but it wasn't. Still, Marcus, who she hadn't seen in a while, was a very welcomed site.

Between whimpers and sniffles, she let out a choked-up, "M-Marcus? What are you doing here? I thought I was alone."

Ten really corny lines ran through Marcus' head but he brushed them all away and loosened his grip. She seemed almost back to normal, which meant it was once again awkward for him. He sighed as he felt warmth spreading into his ears. Great, I'm blushing. I'm a dork.

"I think I electrocuted myself. Was out cold when you came in, I guess." A corner of his mouth flickered into a brief smile. He offered a corner of his robe for her to blow her nose on. "S'no matter. I think you're having a worse day. Don't let it get worse by thinking I'll think less of you. We're in the clubhouse. Everything's good here, even crying."

[Tiltjuice]

"Painkillers.", Katya mumbled. She laughed at that part; it just seemed funny to her. Then, she realized, that the laughter distracted her somewhat from the pain, and so she laughed a little more and relaxed for a good moment.

I was nice...

"Will I stick with it?', She said, rocking her head slowly side to side and humming. "Of course I will. Right now, everything is so messed up for me, it's crazy. I need something to stick to and keep up...I'm keeping my word on this. There can't be any half-measures or going back. I know that....damn it.", She chuckled again. "What do you think about that?"

"What do I think about what?"

Dora's brows furrowed. "You said a lot of things. Maybe the painkillers are finally kicking in."

[Torsiedelle]

The feeling of being wrapped into a hug wasn't something that she had expected, and Torii jolted from the shock. For a split second, her defensive instincts almost kicked in, and she probably would've punched Marcus had she not blubbered and cried herself back into reality. She wriggled and turned her head to identify the person, and, for a moment, thought that it would be Bran, just like in some sappy TV show, and they could apologize right then, but it wasn't. Still, Marcus, who she hadn't seen in a while, was a very welcomed site.

Between whimpers and sniffles, she let out a choked-up, "M-Marcus? What are you doing here? I thought I was alone."

Ten really corny lines ran through Marcus' head but he brushed them all away and loosened his grip. She seemed almost back to normal, which meant it was once again awkward for him. He sighed as he felt warmth spreading into his ears. Great, I'm blushing. I'm a dork.

"I think I electrocuted myself. Was out cold when you came in, I guess." A corner of his mouth flickered into a brief smile. He offered a corner of his robe for her to blow her nose on. "S'no matter. I think you're having a worse day. Don't let it get worse by thinking I'll think less of you. We're in the clubhouse. Everything's good here, even crying."

Marcus's gesture was kind, she thought, but Torii didn't want to mess up his robe. She thought it would be gross, too, and instead just sucked it up and sniffled some more. "Thanks.", She said, wiping her palms against her cheeks to stop the tears. "Everything was going great until dinner. I got into an argument with Bran, and I didn't know where to go afterwards."

She had stopped the worst part of her crying by now, and had pulled her legs up to her chest, so she could wrap her arms around and feel comfortable. "I swear, they never listen. I can't help it when I get mad because they ignore me, or can't get past something that they know I want to put behind me."

From the corner of her eye, she peered at Marcus. "You got electrocuted? Doing what?"

"Painkillers.", Katya mumbled. She laughed at that part; it just seemed funny to her. Then, she realized, that the laughter distracted her somewhat from the pain, and so she laughed a little more and relaxed for a good moment.

I was nice...

"Will I stick with it?', She said, rocking her head slowly side to side and humming. "Of course I will. Right now, everything is so messed up for me, it's crazy. I need something to stick to and keep up...I'm keeping my word on this. There can't be any half-measures or going back. I know that....damn it.", She chuckled again. "What do you think about that?"

"What do I think about what?"

Dora's brows furrowed. "You said a lot of things. Maybe the painkillers are finally kicking in."

"Painkillers? Oh, yea, that's right..."

Katya laughed again. "I almost forgot about the painkillers. How long will it take for them to get to full effect?", She asked. Her words were starting to slur the slightest bit.

[Tiltjuice]

"Painkillers? Oh, yea, that's right..."

Katya laughed again. "I almost forgot about the painkillers. How long will it take for them to get to full effect?", She asked. Her words were starting to slur the slightest bit.

Dora glanced a similar, unvoiced question at the daemonette.

"They should have already," the purple woman replied, checking the monitor tied to the oximeter. "it should be another eight to ten hours or so. Keep breathing evenly."

[Rygondria]

reginald continued his trek through the forest. He thought to himself," Odd i have barley seen any animals through this hunt either they are aware of my presence or there is something driving them away either way i am not leaving until i either get the white stag or any other large game". Reginald heard animal noises coming from a near by area he walked towards the bush and his. It was a wolf pack and it was attacking the white stag. Reginald said," The only thing that is going to kill the white stag is Me"! Reginald then aimed his rifle at the white stag and fired hitting the animal in the brain and driving away the wolves. He said as he examined the body," Time to bring it back". So he grabbed the stag by the antlers and started to drag it he was ready to defend his prize against animals that would want to steal it from him

[Germanic Templars]

"Decontaminates the bio-suit from any foreign particles and microbes from entering into the lab while also removing any microbes or other particles from leaving the lab. After all, we don't want to expose the outside world with something that we are studying in the lab. And I recommend not breathing in, or coming in contact with it; the gas will cause severe chemical burns and can kill if inhaled.." Sapphire explained before putting sealing up the suit. "Don't know if you would want to wait out here, or if we could find a air tight cage for you to come into the lab with. After all, I think you would rather see me get the vial anyway."

Air-tight? MB paused to think for a few seconds, his head cocked to the side and furless ears twitching. There was factory. I think I saw once. In city I come from. Big rich man bought car factory, turned to make bubbles for very-easy-sick people. We can go, unless you have a cage here?

His whiskers twitched, signaling his interest. Either way was fine, but Sapphire was right - he did want to see her get the vial.

"Don't worry, we have cages stored here. Let me go get it." She walked over to a locker off in the corner of the room to where she grabbed a cage out of it before walking back over to MB. Sapphire then laid the cage on the ground with the door open to it, waiting for her little rabbit friend to enter.

---

"Aleki opened the door to the bathroom and closed it as entered in. He tossed his dirty clothes next to Natiya's before getting completely undressed. Only did the idea dawn on him and made him wonder if the shower would be able to fit two people and still give them plenty of room to move around in. Granted there might be a knee to the thigh or elbow to the jaw, but it seemed logical to try out. First he would ask, "Say, do you think that there is enough room for both of us to get in?"

Wondering what was taking her boyfriend so dang long, and starting to get annoyed with the absence of him, the foggy shower door opened, and Natiya pulled Aleki inside, giggling as she did. "Yeah, I think there's enough room." She rolled her eyes, still concentrated on cleaning herself from the day's fight. Showers were always a special thing for her, they allowed her to simply let the water wash her problems away, almost as if she was a new person. She'd step out of the shower, and no one in their right mind would ever think of what happened to her earlier. "Aleki." She said softly over the din of the water. "I love you."

Aleki, facing the shower head, heard what Natiya said and smiled. He turned his head over his shoulder and replied in an equally soft tone, "I love you too." Khro knocked on the door to the bathroom with clothes in her hand, "Brought you two some clothes to change into, just going to crack the door open and place them in there with you two".Place was an understatement when she chose to toss them into the steam filled room, causing them to become an unfolded, scattered mess on the bathroom floor. For Natiya, there was an orange t-shirt and jeans, while Aleki would have a blue t-shirt and jeans.

[Mincaldenteans]

"Weapons we have, yes, although at the moment not in our possession." The meager light reflected off Klaus' jackboot as he stretched his legs out and crossed his ankles.

He observed the once-Queen seated before him. There was something poignant about her and the situation she was in. A final hurrah? The last of the longest lived? For a moment he fancied himself carrying her off to a time and place where winter was balanced, and the hardships of the world were regulated to foolish mankind's blundering rather than the open hostilities of gods and superior beings. She would be Queen Mab once again and all the world would wors-

Yes, this is how we ended up with an eternally dying Minerva in a time and dimension not too far from here, old boy. Klaus shook off the notion. He suspected Mab wouldn't fancy it.

"The problem isn't getting the weapons although that will be a challenge.. It's in the taking of them. If you want them, you'll need to use them before leaving here. They have a purpose to fulfill, which is why they were taken from us to begin with. As for a location? There are areas that would serve for good use, although some are more suitable to obfuscation than others."

---

Klaus finished his wine and removed the napkin from his lap. "We can provide a place here. That is, if Fram has minded his own business and left the Lair alone. Your counterpart will be shown an appropriate place there. Whoever you send will need to have brass balls. Retrieving the weapons will be a challenge; before they're done, they'll face the all-consuming insanity of Cthulhu, the animosity of Drones, the rampant hatred of the Invids still lurking on the Earth, and a few other things. Perhaps. No guarantee on anything."

The cultist leader rose. His hands carefully neatened his jacket but his thoughts were split between here and there. Did they actually know what they were getting in to? Even Klaus was uncertain what the weapons actually were. They'd been locked away by the gods of several pantheons under the command that no one disturb them until all hope was nearly lost. What a stupid concept. If weapons were so damn powerful so as to prevent the end all of end alls, why the hell wait until the very end to use them?

"If you'll all excuse me, I have business to tend to. There's no rush so long as you're in these quarters, Mab. Not even a second has passed in the world outside these doors."

The aspect blew upon her hot tea and sipped at it gingerly, thoughts dancing around her head. They had to use it here first? What in Danu could he possibly mean? There was nothing worth of use here to use it against save their common enemy. And if that were the case why hadn’t they known of these weapons? All that had been lost could have been saved. All that was sacrificed was for naught! This wasn’t acceptable and Mab had to shut her eyes and focus on not let something as trifling as anger to overcome her senses.

“I don’t understand, what do you mean it has to be used here first? There’s a wasted barren world outside these walls and an enemy that is unstoppable. What possible difference could utilizing these weapons have any significance now? Had these weapons been used before they came around, the damage might not be as severe,” she wanted to say more but didn’t, instead taking a slow careful sip of her tea and stared at Klaus patiently for an answer.

---

“A pleasure, Klaus,” she tilted her head respectfully and watched him go. She polished off the last of her wine and refrained from a refill. She stared at the glass and fought a bitter smirk to see it empty. What was that saying? Mortals and their little aphorisms, wholly inaccurate yet surprisingly spot on all at once.

“She turned to face the last two at the table, Fritz and Naomi. “And what do you think, my dear Fritz? Per chance does Fate see this possible or just folly to the wise?”

[Tiltjuice]

"Don't worry, we have cages stored here. Let me go get it." She walked over to a locker off in the corner of the room to where she grabbed a cage out of it before walking back over to MB. Sapphire then laid the cage on the ground with the door open to it, waiting for her little rabbit friend to enter.

The hairless creature hopped as jauntily as he could over to the enclosure. He poked it with an ear; it was an odd habit, but he liked to make sure things were real before doing anything. Where it came from, he had no idea, but he supposed it was something the Mad Alchemist^TM had done.

Satisfied, he hopped in, looked up at Sapphire and twitched his nose agreeably. We go?

[Rygondria]

Sir reginald walked out of the woods with his The body of the white stag. He was glad to get out of that accursed forest intact and with his prize. He realized that he needed to butcher it, tan it, and find a taxidermist to stuff the head. He also needed to sell the antlers and possibly the valuable pelt. He decided to do it inside the kitchen of the building and if the blood left a mess he would let the janitor or the building itself handle it. He dragged the Dead stag through the entrance of the building and into the kitchen where he set the huge animal on a table that was barley big enough to hold it. He then grabbed his skinning knife and started to skin the white stag it was a messy procedure but he did it. He then started to butcher the animal for its meat witch he would use for food because he did not trust the meat found in the market. The smell of cooking deer was radiating from the kitchen he was cooking a slab of deer meat with chopped garlic and a variety of spices. he was not done with the stag but he was taking a lunch break the rest of the meat would either be smoked to be made into jerky or refrigerated and the intestines would be turned into sausage but for now he was focusing on the slab of meat he was cooking.